KUALA LUMPUR: Men’s singles shuttler Justin Hoh won’t feel the sting of being away from his family this Chinese New Year as he begins his first tournament of the year at the Thailand Masters starting today.
His mother, Ng May Kim, and brother, Anson Hoh, surprised him by flying to Bangkok, not only to celebrate the festive occasion with him but also to support him throughout the tournament.
Justin, 20, admitted he had no idea about his family’s plans until they informed him at the last minute.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve had to compete during Chinese New Year. Last year, I was able to celebrate at home with my family because I was recovering from an injury,” said Justin.
“But this year, my family surprised me by coming to Thailand. It’s definitely going to motivate me during the tournament.
“At first, they didn’t tell me anything, and before I knew it, they had already bought their flight tickets.”
For Justin, this tournament will serve as his first test to gauge his strength after several weeks of training under his new coach Kenneth Jonassen.
Justin will have to wait for the winner of the qualifying round to determine his opponent in the first round.
Should he advance, he is set to face either Misha Zilberman of Israel or fourth seed Jason Teh of Singapore in the next round.
“To be honest, I’m not overthinking it because this is my first tournament of the year. I just want to perform,” said Justin.
“Although we’ve only had a short time together, I feel confident that we can work well as a team,” he added.
Apart from Justin, fellow men’s singles shuttler Cheam June Wei will take on India’s S. Sankar Muthusamy in the first round, while four other players will need to battle through the qualifying rounds.
Jacky Kok is set to face Taiwan’s Cheng Kai while Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin will go up against Chan Yin Chak from Hong Kong. Tan Jia Jie will take on Taiwan’s Liang Jhuo-fu and Eogene Ewe will face South Korea’s Cho Geon-yeop.
